Model rocket engine fired underwater is mesmerizing

Explosions are always better in slow motion. Here at Popular Mechanics we’ve featured many, many different slow-mo videos over the years, but some of the best are controlled explosions in the form of engines or rockets.

Adding to that list is this video from the folks at Warped Perception. They fired a small model rocket engine underwater and filmed it in super slow motion. The result is pretty incredible. Take a look at the video above.

The model rocket engine can fire underwater because it makes its own oxygen. The precise mixture of chemicals means that a rocket engine will burn exactly the same anywhere, even in the vacuum of space.

The tank fares less well, though. It already had a small crack in the glass to begin with, and the weight of the water plus the abrupt force of the rocket’s ejection charge proved too much. So actually in this video there are two explosions for the price of one.

We’re not saying this is the best slow-mo explosion video we’ve ever seen. But we’re not not saying it either.